Rope-clamp



(No Model.) 0. E. DUBOIS.

ROPE CLAMP. i

Patented Apr. 14, 1896.

y UNITED STATES PATENT @Finca f OTIS E. DUBOIS, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROPE-CLAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 558,048, dated April 14, 1896. Application filed May 17, 1895. Serial No. 549,642. (No model.)

T0 LZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, Oris E. DuBois, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, in the county of Bristol and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rope-Clamps; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to clamps for holding ropes. It is especially adapted for use on i boats or `other vessels, though applicable to lentirely loosening the hold on it.

a variety of uses on shore as well as on shipboard.

The invention relates particularly to ropeclamps which automatically tighten when any strain is put upon the rope, but which allow the rope to be easily removed when the strain on the rope is slackened.

In all the clamps of this class with which I am familiar the parts are held immovable when the rope is under strain. -It is very desirable to be able to release the rope under these circumstances-as, for instance, a sheet or halyard on which there is no chance to get any more slack. So, too, it is often desirable to be able to pay out a short amount of rope through the clamp by letting it slip without Moreover, in case the clamp gets clogged with dirt or ice, or the rope gets jammed, it is desirable to be able to open the clamp by positively separating its stationary and movable jaws. My invention provides for all these contingencies, the movable clamping jaw or lever being so fulcrumed with relation to the stationary jaw or abutment that the rope may be released by a slight pressure upon the longer arm of the lever, while in case of necessity the iXed jaw itself may be unlocked from its normal-position and swung aside to positively open the clamp.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of a rope-clamp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an edge view. Fig.` 3 is a detail view showing the locking-post in section. Fig.V 4

shows the stationary abutment unlocked.

Fig. 5 shows the socket for the locking-post.- Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the lockingpost.

I have shown the several parts of the clamp mounted on a base-plate, but it should be understood that the base-plate is not a necessary element, since the clamping-jaws can be fastened directly to the deck or other convenient portion of the boat at the place where the clamp is needed. If mounted on a base-plate, the plate can be fasten ed at the desired place.

The fixed jaw or abutment B is held at one end by a pivot-pin b and at the other by a locking device which, when unfastened, leaves the abutment free to swing on its pivot. The specific locking device shown in the drawings will be described hereinafter.

Adjacent to the abutment and preferably at a point nearly equidistant from the pivot b and the locking device is a stud c, on which is fulcrumed the movable jaw or lever C, the shorter arm of which is rounded at c to fit a complementary hollow in the abutment at b'. The surfaces of these portions c b may be slightly grooved, as indicated in Fig. l, so as to fit the rope more snugly, and they are of considerable length, so as to get a good hold on the rope. The longer arm of the lever C is rounded off to form a smooth bearing for the rope. This end of thelever stands at an angle of preferably about forty-iive degrees to the surface b and may have an extension c2 to confine the rope and give greater leverage when the clamp is to be opened, as hereinafter set forth. p

The lever andthe abutment are preferably located so that the line of pressure c of the lever at c' is oblique to the surface b of the abutment. The curved shape of the abutment is designed to best resist this pressure. When a rope is carried around the free end of the lever and then passed between the abutment and the clamping end of the lever, any strain on the standing part of the rope at an angle to the length of the lever forces the clamping end thereof toward the abutment, gripping the rope between the lever and the abutment and automatically tightening upon it with every increase in the strain on the rope. To insure the best eil'ect, a stud or pulley D may be mounted on the base- 'plate adjacent to the free end of the lever ICO and in the proper position to cause the rope when passed around it to assume an angle with the lever best calculated to force the latter into close contact with the abutment or with the rope between them. The clamp does not prevent the rope from being pulled through it in a downward direction in Fig. l, but resists all strain in the other direction. The rope can be entirely released by pulling the slack end out away from the base-plate; but a better way is to press the long arm of the lever C toward the pivot b of the abutmentwthat is, in the direction of the arrow fy in Fig. l. To do this requires but a very slight give in the rope, which its elasticity will always permit, even under a heavy strain.

lf it is desired merely to ease off the rope a little, a slight pressure at c2 will loosen the hold of the clamp enough to let the rope slip through it. There may arise circumstances, however, when the rope cannot be released in this way and it is necessary to open the clamp by unlocking the abutment. n

The lock used may be of any suitable description but l prefer the construction shown, in which a cylindrical post E is rotatably mounted in a socket in the base-plate and fits a cylindrical hole in the bar which forms the abutment B. The post passes through a plate F, fastened to the base-plate. Under the plate F the post has a projecting stud e, which not only holds the post in its socket, but limits its range of rotation by coming in contact with shoulders a in the walls of the socket.

The abutment is slotted at one side of the hole through which the post passes, so as to form a keyhole-slot, and that portion of the post received in the eye of said slot is cut away on one side of the diameter, so that when y the post is turned to the position shown in Fig. -i its semicylindrical portion comes in line with the narrow portion of the slot and the abutment can be swung away from the post; but when the post is turned to the position shown in Fig. 3 the abutment is securely locked inplace. The post is preferably furnished With a collare', under which the abutment fits, and outside of the collar the head of the post is constructed to receive an operating lever or Wrench, such as the rod G, passed through a transverse hole e2 in the post.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a rope-clamp, the combination with the stationary abutment B having a concave face b', of the clamping-lever C pivoted adj acent thereto at the point o and having a short arm provided with a convex face c corresponding with the face b and a long arm having a curved end, and a roller D mounted on a stationary stud adjacent to the long arm of the lever, in such position that the long arm of the lever will move toward it when strain is brought upon a rope passing around said lever and stud, substantially as described.

2. ln a rope-clamp, the combination with a pivoted clamping-lever, of an abutment coacting therewith, said abutment being sustained against strain by a stationary pivot-pin passing through the abutment, and a releasable locking device engaging with said abutment, substantially as described.

3. A rope clamp having the abutment against which the rope is clamped pivoted at one end and provided with a slot at the other end and a locking-post engaging with said slot substantially as described.

4t. ln a rope-clamp, the combination with a clamping-lever, of an abutment pivoted at one end and having a keyhole-slot at the other end, of a rotatable semicylindrical post engaging with said slot, substantially as described.

5. In a rope-clamp, the combination with a base-plate A of the abutment B pivoted at one end and having a keyhole-slot at the other end, the rotatable cut-away post E engaging with said slot and mounted in a socket in the baseplate, the stud e on said post, and the plate F surrounding the post and secured to the base-plate above the stud, substantially as described. l

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTIS E. DUBOIS. Witnesses:

ARBA N. LINCOLN, CHARLEs L. Foo'rn. 

